Unusable data blocks are discovered at several stages in drive processing. When such data blocks are discovered, the drive may be re-linearized so useable data blocks have sequential indices encoded in Error Correction Code (EEC) information on each of the data blocks. As a result of such re-linearization, the ECC information is rewritten on all usable data blocks so that the usable blocks have sequential indices. However, it can take several hours to re-linearize a single drive at considerable expense to the manufacturer.